2.1 Internet Purchase Transactions
The volume of commercial transactions being conducted by communication over the internet has grown dramatically. These transactions typically include placement of orders by purchasers using a merchant or plural merchants who are paid by one or more credit card companies or banks using credit or debit accounts. This trend will continue and the volume of purchase transactions conducted over the internet will increase, probably at an accelerating rate.
A typical internet purchase transaction includes an order which is placed with a merchant. The order information is assembled by the customer, typically using the customer's name. If the customer is a company or other organization, then the order will include both the company name and the name of the person who is using the computer. Such user names are also included to better process the order and provide greater accountability.
The home address, business address, or other mailing and/or billing addresses are frequently required by the merchant during the order session to create an order file. Also included as part of the order information is the shipping or delivery address. If the order is for shipment to a third party, then the shipping or delivery address is different from the customer address.
2.2 Order Response Communication
Internet purchasers are also typically invited to provide an email address to which an order response communication can be sent. Alternative order response communications can be used, such as phone, letter or other. The order response communication is most often in the form of a confirmation communication providing the customer with pertinent transaction information and a message which reassures the customer that the order has been successfully communicated and is being processed.
Additional information which may be gathered in connection with an internet purchase may include telephone contact information, purchase order numbers, invoice numbers and additional billing or customer information.
In most internet purchase transactions the order is processed and paid using a bank credit or debit card. The information provided by the customer includes an account number, card expiration date, card holder's name and the type of card being used. The charges for the order are posted against the customer account number as a charge entry or entries. These entries can be either a credit charge entry or a debit charge entry, depending on whether the charge account is a credit card account or a debit card account.
Placement of orders for internet purchasing using charge card accounts is now widely conducted using the limited information just described—account name, account number, and expiration date. This information is available on the face of most charge cards. Because of this, it is relatively easy for a thief using a stolen charge card to purchase items over the internet. The frequency of internet charge card fraud is increasing and the associated costs are also rising. Whether the order is authentic or a fraud is almost impossible to determine unless the charge card has been reported as stolen and been deactivated.
2.3 Initial Processing by Merchant
After an internet purchase order is placed, the merchant then undertakes initial processing of the order. Initial processing includes a merchant's review of the requested goods or services to determine whether the order can be properly processed and whether the ordered goods or services can be provided to the purchasing customer. This initial processing varies from one merchant to another.
A common initial processing sequence is for the merchant to first analyze the customer purchase order file to see if all necessary information has been provided. This can be done while the customer is in active communication with the merchant over the internet. Alternatively, the customer order can be checked or double checked after the customer's session with the merchant's web site has been completed. The order file review performed by the merchant checks for completeness to make sure that sufficient information has been provided for the merchant's further review and processing of the customer's order.
The merchant's initial processing of an order usually leads to an initial order response communication. The initial order response communication can be in various forms and is used to communicate results of the initial processing analysis. For example, the initial order response may communicate confirmation of the order, a query for additional information, or a refusal that declines the order or explains some other alternative.
Initial order processing by a merchant may also include inventory review. Such inventory review analysis considers the merchant's inventory of goods or resources available for providing services. This is assessed against previous orders to determine if and when the ordered items can be provided.
Another step or phase of initial processing may include payment assessment. Payment assessment of an internet order is performed to determine whether the customer has adequately arranged for or provided payment for the ordered items. The merchant considers the payment information contained in the order and then decides whether to accept or reject the order on this assessment.
One widespread form of payment assessment involves orders placed using credit or debit cards as the means for payment. The customer provides sensitive charge account information via the internet as explained above. This information is then used by the merchant to determine whether the customer's account can be charged for the ordered items to pay the merchant. The ordered items may be goods, services or a combination of goods and services.
2.4 Prior Art Communication of Account Information
The current practice involves not only the communication of sensitive account information between the customer and merchant when the order is initially placed, but also the secondary retransmission of this account information between the merchant and the bank card company. The order is usually accepted by the merchant after receiving charge authorization from credit card companies, such as VISA™, MASTERCARD™, DISCOVER™, and AMERICAN EXPRESS™, or processing companies working in their behalf or service. The established approach involves two or more transmissions of the customer account name, account number, expiration date of card, and the amount to be charged to the customer's account for the ordered items.
2.5 Dishonored Bank Card Account Transactions
Submission of charge requests to the bank card processors for authorization does not necessarily result in a merchant receiving actual payment. Most businesses receive the customer order and submit a request to the bank card processors for authorization to charge a particular customer's account. In some cases this involves two separate queries by the merchant.
In reviewing a charge request, a first analysis is performed by the bank card processor to determine if the account is valid and active. In a second query, the bank card company or another related bank card processor performs a second analysis to determine if the account has sufficient credit or funds. Both of these queries can also be performed in a single request to a single processing operation serving the merchant or charge card company being used.
The bank card processor responds to the merchant's request for authorization at the time of submission of the authorization request. This can be at or near the time the order is placed or the sale transaction is being conducted. The submission of an authorization can also occur at a later time, particularly when the merchant is taking numerous orders at a substantial frequency. Depending upon the merchant's business, an authorization request or requests can also be routinely submitted later. For example, telephone orders can be processed later in the day or next day, and/or prior to shipment of the goods or rendition of the services.
Surprisingly, although a merchant may receive a positive authorization to charge from the charge card processing company, this does not insure the merchant will actually be paid on the transaction. This uncertainty arises because merchants submit their charge card sales to a designated processing bank for payment to the merchant's account. This is usually done in the form of an electronic file which is submitted hours or even days after the authorization request may have been submitted by the merchant, and approved by the bank card processor. The actual requests for payment are submitted usually at the end of the business day, but can be at various times.
Whatever the merchant's practice, there is an inherent delay between the time the request for authorization to charge is approved and the time the merchant makes an actual demand for payment. The demand for payment is made at the time such demand is processed at the merchant's processing bank. Under the terms of the merchant's agreement with the bank card company, the charge may or may not be paid. For example, if other merchants or banks have in the meantime requested payment or advanced cash so that the customer's account has reached its available credit limit or account balance, then the merchant's demand for payment may be dishonored even though it was previously authorized. Depending on the circumstances, the merchant may end up being paid later or never. Merchant's suffering such dishonored charge transactions are dissatisfied since authorization was given to charge against the account. Nonetheless, the terms of the merchant's agreement with the charge card company will be determinative, and many or most card companies have the ability to dishonor a charge if the account exceeds the available credit limit or account balance.
The merchant's decision as a result of the initial processing is most frequently to accept the order. However, the initial processing may be lengthened in some situations because a merchant may await irrevocable payment from the merchant's processing bank before shipment of goods. This can be done to avoid the risk that the charge transaction will be dishonored or paid late. However, it has the disadvantage of increasing the time between order and shipment. This delay to avoid dishonor may end up hurting the merchant's business in a general manner because of negative effects on responsiveness and business volume. This may be incurred to address the problem of dishonored charges.
2.6 Order Acceptance by Merchant
For internet purchase transactions, whether the merchant's initial processing response is acceptance, rejection, or request for additional information, a response is usually communicated by the merchant to the customer in a relatively short period of time, usually less than 1–2 days. This initial processing response communication can be done in a number of suitable ways. Most typically, the merchant's initial processing response is communicated by sending an email to the customer.
Although a variety of formats are used for merchant initial processing responses, the responses usually involve sending a confirmation that the order has been received and accepted. An invoice or other transaction control number is usually assigned. The merchant also typically indicates that shipment has or will occur on or about an expected shipping date. Alternatively, the confirmation may state the customer should expect delivery at the delivery address on or about a certain delivery date.
2.7 Electronic Commerce Fraud
A substantial amount of effort has already been expended in setting up internet purchase transaction systems. Despite these earlier efforts, there is a continuing and increasing risk of electronic commerce fraud. The problem of internet fraud has been previously approached by creating secure or encrypted network communications techniques. Although the commercial establishments developing and using these techniques espouse confidence to the public, there are common fears that electronic commerce fraud will both escalate in number and become of greater value. The use of secure or encrypted techniques are not effective where the account card or key account information has been stolen and is being used fraudulently. Fraudulent charges may occur for some time before being reported or detected and the account is deactivated.
The internet or possibly other causes have also led to a growing problem of identity theft. This problem can have a devastating effect on the person who has their normal identity stolen. In identity theft, an impostor obtains sensitive personal information, such as social security numbers, bank account numbers, charge account numbers, driver's license numbers and other information having important identification attributes. The victim of identity theft is usually left with a number of overdue accounts having large balances run up by the impostor. The abused accounts are frequently discovered long after the fraudulent activity first began.
In many instances the victim of identity theft has difficulty in clearing their name from the abusive use by the impostor. This has led many such victims to change their names to alleviate the problems of credit record destruction and other effects of the identity theft.
2.8 General
Some or all of these problems and other objectives and considerations are addressed by the current invention which is described more fully below. Terminology and information used in this background discussion is also applicable to corresponding aspects of the invention as described below. The reader should also understand that some of the benefits and advantages of the invention are given in this description, whereas others may become apparent later, in light of further use and study of the invention.